Hello everyone!
Recently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched the EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge. In today’s article, we will discuss both these topics in detail. We will talk about their respective objectives as well as their significance. So let’s start with the EatSmart Cities Challenge and see what it is all about.
Table of Contents
EatSmart Cities Challenge
- The EatSmart Challenge was organized in association with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
- Objective: It aims to motivate Smart Cities to develop a plan that supports a healthy, safe and sustainable food environment.
- It will be supported by institutional, physical, social, and economic infrastructure and also apply ‘smart’ solutions to combat food-related issues.
- It is a competition among cities to recognize their efforts in adopting and scaling up various initiatives under Eat Right India.
- The challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capital cities of States /UTs, and cities with a population of more than 5 lakh.
- In partnership with Smart Cities Mission, the Eatsmart Cities Challenge will:
- Create an environment of right food practices and habits
- Strengthen the food safety and regulatory environment
- Build awareness among the consumers and urge them to make better food choices in India’s major cities.
- At the end of the first phase of the challenge, 11 cities will be selected to further implement their vision.
Significance of EatSmart Cities Challenge
- It will push the urban populace to make the right food choices and help build a healthier and happier nation.
- The challenge will complement the remarkable work being done in the Smart Cities Mission.
- It is an opportunity for India to play a pioneering role in developing the concept of integrating food systems into city planning.
Before moving to Transport 4 All Challenge, let’s have a look at Smart Cities Mission and Eat Right India.
- Smart Cities Mission
It is an urban renewal and retrofitting programme by the Government of India, launched on 25th June 2015. It has a mission to develop 100 smart cities across the country to make them citizen-friendly and sustainable. The Union Ministry of Urban Development is responsible for the implementation of this mission in collaboration with the state governments.
- Eat Right India
Eat Right India is an initiative of the Government of India and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). It was launched in 2018. It aims to transform the country’s food system to ensure safe, healthy and sustainable food for all Indians. It is in line with the government’s flagship public health programmes such as POSHAN Abhiyaan, Ayushman Bharat Yojana etc.
Now let’s move to the next part of this article i.e. Transport 4 All Challenge.
About Transport 4 All Challenge
- It is launched in collaboration with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).
- Aim: To bring together cities, startups and citizen groups in developing solutions that help improve public transport.
- The cities and start-ups will receive guidance to develop and test various solutions.
- All the cities, capitals and union territories (UTs) with a population of over 5 lakh are eligible for the Challenge.
Three Stages of Transport 4 All Challenge
- Problem Identification: Cities, with the support of NGOs, identify key recurring problems that citizens and public transport operators face.
- Solution Generation: Start-ups develop prototypes of solutions to improve public transport with inputs from cities and NGOs.
- Pilot Testing: Cities engage start-ups for large-scale pilots and refine the solutions based on citizen feedback.
Transport 4 All Challenge: Significance
- It will support cities to recover from the mobility crisis brought by the coronavirus pandemic.
- It aims to develop digital solutions that will make public transport safe, affordable, comfortable, and reliable for all.
- It will support the cities and start-ups all over the country to move towards digital transformation in urban mobility.
With this, we come to the end of this article. We have covered all the key points of both EatSmart Cities Challenge and Transport 4 All Challenge. We will be back with another article soon. Till then, have a look at our previous article on Aahaar Kranti Mission.
Thank you
